On Tuesday, the Income Tax (IT) Department charged six family members of former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, including his wife, son and daughters, under the stringent Benami Transactions Act in connection with land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore.

The RJD chief and his family members have been in the news the past one week. Here’s why:

Tej Pratap Yadav’s petrol pump license cancelled by the BPCL

Tej Pratap Yadav, who is also the Minister for Health, Minor Water Resources, Environment and Forest in the Nitish Kumar government was handed over a notice signed by BPCL on the May 31. The notice said that Yadav had acquired the petrol pump at Patna’s busy Anisabad bypass road by “misrepresenting facts and furnishing wrong information.”

“On the date of submission of the application for the retail outlet (12.1.2012) you were neither the shareholder nor the director of the said M/s A K Infosystem which never entered into any lease with you (Tej Pratap),” the complaint had stated, as reported by The Indian Express.

The complaint was reportedly made by BJP leader Sushil Modi who claimed that the petrol pump had been fraudulently allotted to Tej Pratap during the UPA-II regime and while applying for the petrol pump, Yadav had falsely declared that the land for retail allotment was under his name. However, M/S A K Infosystems, the real owner, claimed that it had never leased the land to Yadav.

The notice issued by the BPCL was allegedly connected to this complaint.

The oil corporation gave Yadav 15 days to submit an explanation on how he acquired the license. As he was unable to provide a satisfactory response, his license got cancelled.

However, the order could not be executed following a temporary injunction order issued by Patna civil court on 16 June. The interim stay comes after Yadav approached a local court challenging the BPCL’s cancellation order.

The next hearing of the case is on June 23.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s wife, son and daughter charged under Benami Act

The Income Tax Department on June 17 charged six family members of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, including daughter Misa Bharti, her husband Shailesh, sister Ragini and Chanda, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and former Chief Minister Rabri Devi, under the Benami Transactions Act. The charge was in connection with the IT department’s probe into land deals worth Rs 1,000 crore.

In this Act, the word ‘benami’ is used to define a transaction in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name the property is purchased. As a result, the person in whose name the property is purchased is just a mask of the real beneficiary.

In spite of summons being issued on their names about the ‘benami’ assets case, Bharti and Kumar have not appeared in front of the authorities. The summons was issued days after the arrest of Bharti’s Chartered Accountant (CA) Rakesh Agrawal, in connection with an Enforcement Directorate probe into a Rs. 8,000 crore money laundering racket, involving two Delhi-based businessmen and a few political entities.

The summons reportedly intended to question Misa and her husband on transactions conducted by M/s Mishail Packers and Printers Private Limited.

The IT Department has been carrying out a month-long investigation across the country and has probed about who all have been involved or were linked to the purchase and sale of these assets. Its survey has revealed that about 22 locations in Delhi and adjoining areas are connected with alleged Benami deals of Rs 1,000 crore by Lalu’s family.

Lalu Prasad appears in court over allegations of fodder scam

The former Bihar Chief Minister appeared before a special CBI court in Ranchi in three fodder scam cases, while another former CM Jagannath Mishra presented himself in the court in two other fodder scam cases on June 22.

Prasad and Mishra have been linked to money fraud cases in two places – for a withdrawal of Rs 96 lakhs from Deoghar and Rs 3.97 crores from Dumka. Prasad was also associated with alleged fraudulent withdrawal from the Doranda Treasury.

Lalu Yadav has been convicted and sentenced to five-year imprisonment in one of the five cases for which he is being tried in the fodder scam.

This scam worth of Rs 900 crores had come to the forefront during the 1990s when Lalu Prasad was the Chief Minister of Bihar.

The Logical Indian community severely condemns the deep-seated corruption and money-laundering that exists among Indian politicians. It urges the concerned authorities to take the necessary steps and not to leave any loopholes in the system through which the accused cannot go scot free.

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Partner Story

An Army Colonel Is Changing Lives Of Thousand Of People From North-East Using White Bullets

Retiring after spending 32 years in the Indian Army, Col Chris Rego is helping change the destinies of hundreds of children in conflict-affected North East India through his “White Bullets” initiative. With this initiative, he hopes to bring peace and progress to communities across North East India.

Luminouswanted to bring out the Colonel’s story to the world to inspire and motivate others as it believes that education is a strong tool to empower women. It is supporting Col Rego’s cause through an initiative called #Luminaries – the brave people who stand up for causes like girl child education and make a difference in the society.

Col Rego’s journey started over a decade ago in Manipur when a tribal woman knocked on his door pleading for support for her daughter’s education. Touched by the woman’s story, Col Rego and his wife delved into their savings and arranged for the money for the girl’s education. Two years down the line, the woman returned, this time with a small pumpkin and a shawl that she had knitted, and all the money she had borrowed. Moved and realizing that their money could make lives rather than earn paltry interest, Col and Mrs. Rego embarked on a journey to arrange for sponsorship of many more underprivileged children.

Retiring from the Army, Col Rego took over as CEO of Sunbird Trust, a not-for-profit organization which he founded in 2014. The Trust now sponsor over 1,000 children in 21 locations acrossNorth East India. The centre of Sunbird Trust’s activities is at beautiful Ijeirong, Manipur.

Recognizing Col Chris’s immense work, Luminousacknowledged him as their first Luminary. Through this, they hope to bring more power to his elbow in the notable work he is doing. The Luminousteam travelled to remote Ijeirong village and installed solar products. These solar products will help in providing power to the entire campus 24/7 for the very first time.

The Logical Indian salutes Col Christopher Rego for his untiring efforts and leadership. His efforts are already having a cascading effect on people from across India joining the “White Bullets” endeavour. Quite amazingly, education, in itself so empowering, is merely a means to PEACE. We hope the path illuminated by #Luminary Col Rego and his Sunbird Trust team acts as a beacon for others to follow.

If you too have stories of change, share them with us. And if you want to connect with Colonel Rego, click here.